I'm Back!!

Before I say anything, I just need to get something off my chest--I fell off the wagon. And I fell hard! Turns out I gained back almost 10 pounds in about a month. Totally scarey!! But I am happy to report that I am back!

I realized that I needed something to work toward and once the 1st quarter of our family goal competition came to an end, I'm sorry to say that most of my goals did too. But now I have something else to work toward and look forward to. This year is my hubby's and my 10th anniversary, so we are going to take a little trip toward the end of the year to celebrate. I am hoping to get down about 20 lbs. between now and then. My husband is also going to try to lose some weight, so we are going to compete against one another.

I think my biggest obstacle is going to be finding time to devote to hard-core exercising. My 1-year-old has been on a sleeping strike for a couple of months, so I have been choosing to get extra sleep rather than get up early or stay up late to exercise. I need to figure out how to squeeze some good cardio in. One good thing about the summer is that I have been going on a lot of walks with my kids. I have my girls ride their bikes and I push the baby in the stroller and try to keep up.

I have updated my weight-loss ticker and I am happy to report that I am down 2 pounds since Monday. Here's to healthier living and looking better on the beach for my trip!

Weigh-In

Sorry, still no pictures. Things have been pretty crazy around our house lately. I am hoping to get some taken soon. As for the progress this week, I am pleasantly surprised to say that I broke through my plateau! This week, I had a loss of 3 pounds! It would have been 3.5 pounds if that pesky 1/2 pound hadn't come back this morning. Grr! Anyway, I have now lost 24 pounds! 7 more pounds to go until I hit my 3rd goal. I'm pretty excited about it.

I thought I should also mention that I got my fitbit this week. It is really cool! I love how it tracks my activity level all throughout the day. And it motivates me to try to keep it out of the evil sedentary state! It also tracks how well I sleep at night (or how poorly I am sleeping, which is probably more accurate). For example, it told me that I woke up 10 times last night. Granted, some of those times were just me rolling over, but a good chunk of them were spent rocking my little guy back into dreamland. At any rate, it is an interesting study of how I spend my day and night. That's all for now.

Hmm . . .

Well, I think my body is on about a week delay. Last week was a good week, yet I had a pretty significant gain. This week was a not-so-good, very busy week, and I lost 2 pounds. So, next week, I had better be extra good or things could get really bad. I am excited to get my Bountiful Basket tomorrow. I think that will help me make better food choices. We've actually taken 2 weeks off from it (one by choice and the other because the co-op took a weekend off), so I am looking forward to planning my menu for the week around the goodies we'll get in our basket.

I've got to be honest . . .

I wish I could skip writing this post, but I want this blog to be an honest record of my weight-loss journey. So, this week was really bad. More accurately, last week was really bad, but it caught up with me this week. I gained 2.5 lbs. The funny thing is that I actually had a good week with eating and drinking my water this week. My exercise has yet to pick up again, due to my little guy still not sleeping well. I thought I got away with having a bad week without seeing negative results, but in truth, they just took a little longer to show up. But, rather than get discouraged, I need to just chalk it up to having a bump on the road and continue on rather than take the next exit to head back to my old bad habits. I'm hoping to get outside more now that the weather is improving and I think that if I am spending more time outside working and playing, it will be easier to eat better because I won't be bored. (I have discovered that when I'm bored, I eat.) Anyway, onward and upward. Here's to turning things around.

YIKES! (Weigh-in)

I was not looking forward to this weeks weigh-in. As of Monday, I was up 3 lbs. from my weigh-in last week. Not only that, my cardio exercise has been non-exsistent all week long. I don't want to make excuses, but here's why the week was so rough: My baby has decided that he does not want to sleep and if we try to put him down at night, it is always a big fight that he has been winning. So, since I exercise on my elliptical at night, that hasn't been happening. My husband has been really good to help out with the baby, but I have to admit that when he tells me I can go and exercise, I just don't have the eneregy. It is physically draining to deal with a baby that cries as much as mine has for the past week or so. However, I have been trying to watch what I eat and drink my water, but I have to admit that I have not been as diligent as I have been in the past, but not horrible. Also, I have gone on some long walks this week. Once to and from my daughter's school, which is about a 60 minute walk; and I walked for another hour with my daughter at her Relay for Life. I also walked home from the dentist yesterday, but not at a very brisk pace. So, this morning when I weighed myself, I was sad to see a gain, but happy to see that it was only a 1 pound gain. Back to where I was two weeks ago. Oh well, I'll try to put this behind me and try to do better this week.

Weigh-In

Yay! Another pound lost. This brings my total weight-loss to 22.5 pounds. I was hoping it would be a little more, but I wasn't able to get my work-out in last night and my baby was up too early this morning to allow me to exercise this morning. All in all, I feel good about it. I do need to be more aware of my water intake though, especially since we are heading into the warmer months and I will be spending more time outside.

Wish I had more to report, but that's all for today.

Weigh-in

I feel pretty good about my weigh-in this week. I've had some major cravings and some unhealthy food choices around me all week. I won't lie, I did indulge a little. I really tried to not overdo it, and for the most part, I think I did okay. If I was having a really strong craving for something, I tried drinking a big glass of water first to control the amount of food I was eating. So, on to the results. I maintained this week. No loss, no gain. Although, yesterday I did hit a new low, so I am going to try harder this week so I can see some more results next week. Also, I need to post some new pictures, so I will try to get to that once my baby is awake (because I use his room for my backdrop).

Phase 2: Mission Completion

FINALLY!! This day came about 2 months after I hoped it would. But even after a long wait, I am happy to report that I have accomplished Phase 2 of Operation: Burn the Baby Fat!! With my weigh-in this morning, my weekly loss was 2 pounds! But I was 1.5 pounds below my previous low weigh-in. This brings my total loss to 21.5 pounds! And my percentage lost at 10.4%. And for my reward, I think I will treat myself to a new hairstyle. I am hoping to get my hair cut this next week. I'll post before and after pics at that time. Here's to another good week--one day at a time!

Weigh-in and a few changes

Well, at least I'm maintaining! Too bad I'm maintaining about 30 pounds above where I would like to be. Oh, well! I'll try to look on the bright side of things. I weighed in .5 pounds above last weeks weigh-in. It's not too bad. I just find it strange that I haven't lost anything in over a month.


So, I've decided to make a few changes. The first change is actually not a change at all, and I can't even start it yet because it hasn't arrived. My husband ordered me a fitbit for Mother's Day and it has been on back order for a while and likely won't even arrive until long after Mother's Day is over. This little device is to be worn throughout my day to track my active vs. inactivce periods to help me know when I need to make changes so I can be more active. It will also tell me how restful my sleep is at night--or, more appropriate, how unrestful it is! It will be interesting.


Next change, my SIL started a 1000 minute club with our family (although, I think it might be just her and I that are going to do it). The idea of this is that over the next 10 weeks we will walk 1000 minutes in addition to our regular exercise. I think this will help me break through those moments of inactivity that I'm experiencing throughout my day. Also, it will be nice to get my kids out on their bikes to get them moving as well.

Last, I think I need to be eating more. Sounds funny to say, but I think it's true. Now, I've never been a doctor or even enjoyed or even taken the classes they have taken to become one. But it seems to me that losing weight is hard work for a body. And, if it doesn't have enough fuel to help burn that fat away, then it won't be able to do it; and it will just hold onto that extra fluff that I'm trying to get rid of. (Correct me if I'm wrong Josie!) So, I need to start eating more fruits and vegetables. To help in this endeavor, I'm doing two things. The first is that I am planting a garden. In fact, I planted my peas, broccoli, and cauliflower just last week. This will be a good way for me to be active as well as get some great veges into our house. Also, I have joined a co-op called "Bountiful Baskets" where I go on Saturdays and pick up a big basket of fruits and vegetables for a fraction of the cost of getting it at the grocery store. I am looking forward to googling different recipes so I can cook up my new veges and get them in my body and my families' bodies so that we can be more healthy. I am really excited about it!

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks for letting me get all of this out so that I can be accountable for these changes. One day at a time!

Late Weigh-in

I know I'm late with this post, but I did weigh-in, and I had a 1/2-pound loss, so I'm back to having lost 20 lbs. I should be saying this with a lot of excitement and gusto, but I know what kind of a weekend it was and that it wasn't kind to me on the scale this morning. So, I'm hoping to kick things into gear this week and finally break through this barrier that I've hit over the past month. Luckily, the weather is nice, so I've been spending more time outside. However, I need to remember although just being outside and being more active is a good thing, I can't slack on my regular workouts. Just being outside and playing with my kids doesn't get my heart-rate up, so I need to be more aware of that.

I did move up another belt-loop over the weekend. The bad news is that I refuse to actually cinch it up that far because the extra bulges in my jeans are not appealing. So, until I break down and buy some new pants, I'll just have to get by with my belt on the second loop.

Here's to a good week!

Weigh-in

It has been a long week. Every time I saw the scale I was tempted to step on it, but I did resist until late last night--I just couldn't wait to see where I was at. Then this morning, I was kind of surprised to find that I had a loss this week. It was only a .5 lb. loss, but it was a loss. Also, considering that I had a pretty rough week and gave into the Easter bunny candy on more than one occasion, I am happy to see a loss. I did have a measured improvement in my water intake and I did have some good workouts early on in the week, but didn't get in my big Thursday night/pre-weigh-in workout due to one lame excuse or another. It was nice to not have to worry about weighing in every night and morning, but instead, I worried that I was going to have a huge gain when I finally did weigh-in. So, I guess this experiment just shows me that I'm going to worry whether I weigh everyday or not, so I'll weigh myself when I feel like it and hopefully I won't obsess about it anymore.

Frustrated! -- Trying to Look on the Bright Side

What's the point? I've been working my tail off, and I still gained again this week--another .5 pound. That puts my total loss for the month at a big, whopping 1.5 pounds. Lame! The only differences I can pin-point right now are that I started a new workout--the 30 Day Shred--and I haven't been drinking all of my water--but I've been drinking at least 64 ounces a day, for the most part. I guess, to look on the bright side, if I hadn't been trying so hard, it could have been a lot worse and I could have gained for the month rather than lost. I'm just frustrated--enough said.

Stuck

Weigh-in was this morning. I was hoping to get back to my low from 2 weeks ago. But, alas, I am stuck with no loss this week. No gain, but no loss either. I guess that is a plus. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the new workouts I've been doing the last few days. I started the 30 Day Shred with Jilllian, which is the workout DVD I decided to get for my Valentine's Day gift from my husband. After the 1st day, I could barely move my arms. Actually, now that I think of it, I could barely move anything. I was so sore. So, rather than wait for any soreness to go down, I decided to fight through it and do the workout again the next day. The soreness in my arms after that workout was nearly unbearable. However, the next morning, I was feeling quite a bit better. So, during my workout last night, I felt pretty good. I was actually able to do some of the more advanced moves they were showing me, and I am just a little sore this morning. (Enough to know I worked hard.) Anyway, the point is, I'm wondering if I have been adding more muscle; thus, the lack of change on the scale. Even if that's not true, the funny thing is that my body feels more toned this week, and my clothes (especially my shirts) are fitting even better after this week. Well, hopefully, if I keep working out hard and eating right, it will result in a loss for next week. Here's hoping.

Blah!

Daylight Savings has wreeked havoc with me this week. I couldn't figure out my schedule all week. This morning was the first time I actually got on my elliptical because of other things going on. So, it wasn't too surprising when I ended up with a .5 pound gain. Although, even though I wasn't on the elliptical, I had been outside enjoying the weather. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I worked outside trying to rake up all the dead grass out of my lawn. There was a lot of it, so I only ended up getting the front yard and a little of the backyard. It was a good upper-body workout, and by Wednesday, my arms were really feeling it. Also on Wednesday, I walked to my daughter's school so she and her sister could ride their bikes home. I had to walk pretty fast to keep up with them. I was also pushing a stroller, so I thought that was a good workout. My diet has not been as controlled as it should have been and especially my water intake has suffered. So, thus the gain. Oh well, it is what it is. It sure would have been nice to knock off that last pound to reach my 2nd goal. Maybe next week.

Weigh-in & Milestone

Today is weigh-in. I've been trying really hard this week to focus on my diet, water intake, and generally being more active during the day. It seems to have worked as I have lost 2 pounds this week. That is a total of 9.7% loss. The milestone is that I have now lost 20 pounds! Hopefully next week I will meet my Phase 2 goal, which is only 1 pound away. After having a rough week last week, it felt really good to be back on my game this week!

Seriously?!?

Well, if you couldn't tell by my last post, I've had a bad week. I'm not sure I'm out of the woods yet, but my weigh-in this morning was the highlight of the week. I had been up and down all week long seeing .5 lb. changes up or down each time I'd weigh-in. So, I wasn't expecting much this morning. In fact, I wasn't expecting anything, but to chalk up a bad weigh-in to a bad week. Well, when I stepped on the scale this morning, I saw a new low. I lost 1.5 pounds this week. So much better than I was expecting! And a bright spot in on a snowy, cold day. This bring my total weight-loss 18 pounds in 2 months + 1 day. My % weight-loss is 8.74%. Thank goodness for a little motivation to keep going.

Week 7 Results

I, once again, wasn't expecting much from this week's weigh-in. I've been sick all week long with a cold and my workouts haven't been great. In fact, I ended up not getting my usual Thursday night workout. I opted to let my body get a good night's sleep so that I could get up early and exercise this morning. And even though my workouts themselves weren't very intense (due to being sick), I still did see a small drop in weight. For the week, I ended up down 1.5 pounds. This is actually one pound below my previous low, due to the .5 gain last week. It brings my total weight-loss to 16.5 pounds. Yay me!!

It was bound to happen . . .

Yep, it's weigh-in day; and for the first time, I've had a gain. I gained .5 pounds this week. I'm kind of bummed about it, but after looking back on the week, I can see how it happened. First of all, I think last weekend caught up with me early on in the week. A few other factors also contributed to it. I had a lot more cravings this week, and a little less will-power to avoid them. Also, I seem to remember that when my husband was losing weight last year, at around the 6 week mark, he hit a plateau and had to change this up a bit to shock his body into weight-loss mode. So, here I am at week 7. It's likely time to shake things up a bit. All-in-all, I am a little discouraged by the gain, but I think it could have been a lot worse. Plus, I've come this far already; this is not going to stop me from accomplishing my goals. Here's to a new week and a fresh start.

Week 6 Weigh-In

My husband and I have been battling it out this week--weight-wise. Since he lost a lot of weight last year, and I was pregnant, it has been over a year since I have weighed less than him. So, this week, my focus has been on finally weighing less than him. AND I DID IT!! Hopefully, I will be able to leave him in the dust now since he doesn't have a whole lot more to lose and I am just beginning, not to mention the fact that he is about 7 inches taller than me and that I should weigh A LOT less than him--but it's a start!


So, for my totals: This week I lost 2.5 pounds! Which brings my total weight-loss to 15.5 pounds and my percentage to 7.5%. I have 5.5 pounds left to lose in Phase 2. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

Weigh-In -- Week 5

Well, at least I'm consistent! My weigh-in this morning had me down 1.5 pounds again. I was actually suprised by the extra 1/2 pound. I was betting on a one pound loss this week, so 1.5 is pretty sweet. Even though the weight is coming off slow and steady, at least it is coming off. And not only that, I think it is coming off in a healthy, sustainable way. I need need to have patience and realize that all of the ultimate goals that I have for myself are worth waiting for and working for, because it will take both . . . one day at a time!!